Final Grand Tour of the season for Emirati squad

UAE Team Emirates will take on the third and final Grand Tour of the season with the Vuelta España departing from the Spanish city of Burgos on August 14th before concluding three weeks later in Santiago de Compostela on September 5.
 
The 21 stages offer mixed terrain with 2 time trials and 9 summit finishes with several stages also handmade for the sprinters.
 
Local favourite David De La Cruz comes into the race having claimed 7th in the 2020 edition and a recent 5th place in the Vuelta Burgos will have him hoping for a strong showing. Rafal Majka also comes in as a former podium finisher at La Vuelta and will hope to find the form he displayed in the final week of this year’s Tour de France where he guided Pogačar to victory.
 
Elsewhere Sebastian Molano comes in hot off the back of two stage wins in Burgos and will again team-up with Trentin for the sprint finishes.
 
The squad will be overseen by Team Manager Joxean Matxin Fernandez (Spa) while Sports Directors Simone Pedrazzini (Swi), John Wakefield (RSA), Aurelio Corral (Spa) and Manuele Mori (Ita) will all rotate over the three weeks.
 
-David De La Cruz (Spa)
-Joe Dombrowski (USA)
-Ryan Gibbons (RSA)
-Rafal Majka (Pol)
-Sebastian Molano (Col)
-Rui Oliveira (Por)
-Jan Polanc (Slo)
-Matteo Trentin (Ita)
 
Joxean Matxin Fernandez (Team Manager) : “For the Vuelta we wanted to strike a balance in the squad. We have a block of four climbers and another of four sprinters and fast riders. We are going in with the objective to be aggressive and bring an attacking mentality. There are guys who can be competitive in the climbs and also riders who will be at the front of bunch sprints so we will aim to be competitive on every stage.
 
In terms of the overall, David De La Cruz is a rider that can do a strong GC result and will be supported to build on his 7th place from last year.
 
It’s a very experienced team with a lot of Grand Tour pedigree and many stage wins between them and we hope to build on that at this Vuelta.”